Miss Brakke's Grade Six Humanities

This week in humanities we: Read the first four chapters of The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis. The story is about an eleven year old girl named Parvana who lives in Kabul, Afghanistan with her father. In chapter two, Parvana's father is arrested by Taliban soldiers and the family is left with very little, as both Parvana's mother and older sister are not allowed outside without her Parvana's father. Students are creating graphic novels to summarize each chapter.  We reviewed the Pillars of Democracy (freedom, representation, equity, and justice) as well as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom s. We will have a quiz on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms on Thursday next week. Click this link to review the main points from the Charter!  Major (Retired) Bob Wade visited our school this week to speak to the students about his experience as a fighter pilot for the Royal Canadian Air Force! He shared many stories of his courage, determination, and passion for...

This week in humanities we:  began our second class novel study of The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis. The story is about an eleven year old girl named Parvana living in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2000. We learned about some of the history of Afghanistan and the takeover of the country by the Taliban and the strict rules placed on women and girls during the time the novel takes place.  started our first cycle of our Literacy Stations with Ms. Stafford. Each group will complete all five stations: reading with the teacher, word work, writing expository texts, writing narrative texts, and making connections through listening (podcasts, videos, stories etc.). 

Use this link to read the article about the Federal Election. 

This week in humanities we:  Completed our second picture prompt. We were given a picture from the NY Times What's Going on in this picture? with no caption or context. Our job was to examine the picture and using clues from the five W's (who, what, when, where, and why) try and figure out what is happening in the picture.  Learned about the Federal Election which is taking place on October 21st. Each student had a chance to complete the Youth Vote Compass , which explained the different political parties and which group their beliefs and values align with most.  We have no school next week. Students will return to school on Monday October 21st. Enjoy your Fall Break!

Read the article about Greta Thunberg and then complete the Google Form with your answers. Greta Thunberg Article  Google Form

This week in humanities we: learned about the  Pillars of Democracy : Justice, Equity, Freedom, and Representation. Students created vocabulary booklets to help them with their understanding of each term.  practiced using a  plot diagram  with the short video called  Sweet Cocoon . Check out the vocabulary page to find out more!  learned about three types of government systems: dictatorship, oligarchy, and democracy. Each student chose a piece of paper with a coloured dot on it, representing a different government system. We then had to make a decision as a class using each type of government system.  Next week:  Field Trip to YouthLink on Wednesday - please bring back your field trip forms before then! Student Progress Conferences Thursday afternoon and Friday! 

This week in humanities students: learned about the rights  we have as Canadians as found on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . These include: fundamental rights, democratic rights, equality rights, mobility rights, legal rights, and minority language educational rights. Check out the vocabulary page to find the definition of each of these rights!  explored the history of colonization, assimilation, and cultural genocide of Indigenous people in Canada as a result of Residential Schools. Students created a timeline of events and government laws which began in 1763. Students then examined Unicef's  Convention on the Rights of the Child   document which includes 56 articles on the rights every child under 18 has. We discussed how the rights of Indigenous children were violated as a result of Residential Schools. With Ms. Harbour, we discussed the meaning of reconciliation and students wrote messages of hope for survivors and victims of Residential Schoo...